German Potato Pancakes

 I was craving for some McD's hash browns one morning and since hubby was not yet home (he's on night shift), I thought of making my own hash brown, searched for a recipe online. . . and ended up making German Potato Pancakes!  They're still hash browns to me. . . .just with a fancier name, haha!

The original recipe was from allrecipes.com.  I tweaked it a bit and got ideas from other recipes which I saw and at the end, I had a crispy, tasty, one-is-not enough hash brown. . . . I mean German potato pancakes! 

If you had enough french fries, mashed or baked potato, this is a great way (may not be the healthy though, haha!) to enjoy potatoes! =)

Happy Cooking!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

*garlic and onion powder for added seasoning

6 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded (I used Russet potatoes)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

Directions:

This is the additional step I did for this recipe because I read that doing this would take out the starch and moisture from the potatoes and would make the pancakes crispy.

1. Shred the potatoes and let them drop over a bowl of cold water.  Add the shredded onion too in this bowl.  Let it rest for 30 minutes, rinse, drain and squeeze repeatedly to remove all moisture and excess liquid.  (I used also paper towels to dry the potato/onion mixture).

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.  Mix in the potatoes and onion.

3.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  In batches, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the potato mixture into the skillet.  Press to flatten.  Cook about 3 minutes on each side, until browned and crisp.  Drain on paper towels.

The Packing House at Anaheim

When I visited California for the first time (2008), one of the cities I went to was Anaheim (located in Orange County) because this is where you will find the happiest place in the world!  And that is the only thing I know about Anaheim. . . .Disneyland!  Haha! 

Last month, I got the chance to explore another place in this city called the Anaheim Packing District.  In this District, you will find the Packing House (which is what this post is all about), Farmers Park and the Packard Building.

By the way, here is a brief history about the Packing House which I read from different articles.

In the old days, there are several packing houses built across the US.  What is a packing house? A packing house is a place where farmers bring their produce like fruits so they can be packed and distributed across the country (through the use of railroad cars).  One of the most notables ones was the Sunkist plant in Anaheim which was built in 1919.

The Packing House then. . . .

Photo from O.C. History Roundup blog

And NOW. . .

Photo from the LA Times

Thanks to a group of developer (LAB Holding) and a multi-million dollar renovation, this old 2-story packing house has been given a new lease of life and has been transformed to a foodie's haven.

This was the other side of the building where we enteredr . . .

From the entrance, you would know that the details for this place have been well-thought of.  Just before you enter, you will see some rocking chairs where you can sit down, relax and well. . . rock.  Haha!  

The Princess enjoyed rocking these chairs =)

The building's facade may look plain and simple but behind these doors is a cool and hip place which has that vintage-retro vibe too.  I'm not really knowledgeable in architecture and interior design so I don't really know how to describe the place, haha!  I'll just let the photos do the talking.

  

I want one!

This bar (aptly named Hammer Workshop and Bar) used different tools to decorate their place.

It even has a tractor which the Princess enjoyed "driving"!

The place has a nostalgic feel to it too as seen in some details like this film viewing room which shows silent movies. . .

Stepping inside it felt a little bit. . . creepy, haha!

It's all about details. . . 

Look at this table. . . it must have been a part of a railroad car or a track?  I am sure it was part of something from the old days.

This table was made from repurposed old crates  . . . 

. 

Old luggages as tables too . . . 

A vintage weighing scale. . .a thing of beauty but NOT a favorite thing of mine. . .and I mean ALL weighing scales are not in my favorite list!  Haha!

Even the restroom had a retro-vintage feel to it =)

There are areas outside the house where you can also hang out and just chill. . . 

Can I have a backyard like this pleeease?

Such a cool way to display the names of the food establishments in the Packing House. . . 

There is a good number of food choices in this place.  What I really wanted to try was the burger from Wheat and Sons (read that they have good burgers).  Guess what, they were closed that particular day for their menu planning! Haha!

So we tried Kroft and ordered their Country Fried Chicken Poutine (Poutine is a dish that originated from Quebec, Canada that is made of french fries and topped with light brown gravy-like sauce and cheese curds - from Wikipedia)

Loved the Fried Chicken!

And the Prime Rib Dip

I should have ordered their Chicken sandwich, haha!

And then we got Ramen from Orange Tei for the Princess. . . which was actually tasty.

Then we tried some Indian food from Adya and ordered Chicken Tikka.  It was okay.  It has a subtle flavor.  I prefer a more intense flavor in when I eat Indian food.

And the thing that I tried that which I loved most. . . was the organic coffee (Cappuccino) from Cafecito!

These are just a few of the food vendors you can find in the Packing House.   There is one which serves good grilled cheese, another serves Southern comfort food, a crepe place and one that serves Vietnamese food (to name a few).  You can say that we will be going back to try the others including this one (which they say always gets a long line). . . .

Gelato in a stick!

For more details about the Packing House and the Anaheim Packing District, please click this link.

Happy 6th!

I can't believe it's February already!  Where did January go?! 

Since February is known to be a Love month, my first post for this month is all about Love! 

February is one of my favorite months because is also our Anniversary month . . . both as boyfriend-girlfriend (we don't really celebrate it though) and as husband and wife.  This year is our sixth year together as a married couple (but we've been in each other's throats . . .ehrmm, I mean lives--- haha! for 14 years).  

By the way, did you know that for the Anniversary gifts, there is a list for traditional AND modern! For the 6th year, traditional items are candy/iron and for modern, it's wood.

I've been making anniversary posts every year since I started blogging.  (You can read the first one here). 

For this year's Anniverary post, I thought of sharing with you some wedding photos from that special day and the stories that come with it.

A part of our wedding invitation . . .

The design for our rings was chosen by Hubby but I had to send back mine because . . . I thought it needed a little more oomph, haha! 

The person who made Hubby's barong was a tailor from Batangas (I came to know about him from an online community for brides) and goes to Manila weekly to meet his clients.  Since he doesn't have a place of business in the city, we met him at a food court in one of the malls!  The sight of him taking hubby's measurements in the food court still makes me laugh to this day.  He is such a nice and simple man and I hate that I forgot his name! (Blame it on my Mommy brain, teehee)  But let me tell you, the Barong was superbly done, wouldn't have it any other way!  

For my bouquet, I knew exactly what I wanted.  I wanted it to be all white and I wanted Stargazer Lilies.  

Weeks leading up to the big day, I have repeatedly told myself that I won't cry when I walk down the aisle.  Well, I did a good job!  There were no tears!  Do not underestimate the power of the mind, haha!  A friend described me as the giddiest bride she ever saw.

And the groom was his usual self. . . just cool . . . happy and cool. . .

And I think my parents were just happy to give me away, haha! (If your daughter is 34 years old, wouldn't you be jumping over the moon?!  Haha!)

But you know, deep in my Daddy's heart, I'll always be his little girl. . . 

This is how he really feels, haha!

One of the things I told Hubby before the wedding was when the "you may kiss the bride" part comes, after he lifts my veil, he should fix it and and make sure that it won't cover my face, haha!  

This was me reminding him about that, haha!

If there's one thing I wish I did, I wish we practiced our wedding kiss!  

There is a funny story about this family picture below.

This photo was taken before the Reception.  When the photographer said, "let's take a family picture", we were all calling each other to take their places and all.  And then we realized, Hubby was there on the side, quietly waiting to be called, hahaha!  We sort of forgot that he is also in the room, haha!     

During the Reception, Hubby and I struggled to cut the cake.  We really did!  We spent a good few minutes slicing through the cake.  I completely forgot about the one inch styropor base in the cake (which the baker reminded me about). 

I thought that there won't be any crying/drama at all but I was wrong. . . hahaha!

There were a few tears here and there. . .

I can't really remember what I said at the end of the Programme (I have to watch our wedding video again, haha!) but there is one thing I clearly remember until this day.  

I remember telling my Husband that . . . 

"I'm glad it was you. . ." 

Happy Anniversary Huney!  Thank you for the love (that grows) and for keeping your promise. Thank you for still making me feel beautiful (even with the extra pounds, haha!)  Thank you for taking good care of me (and the kids) and thank you for spoiling me (and the kids) in your own way.  

You are a good husband and a good father who just makes us happy.  I couldn't ask for anything more!  Each year just gets better.  

I love you Hun. . . 

Photos by: Mimi and Karl